This year, put the country ahead of party affiliations
As we enter the new year, the prospects for defeating the Harper government in 2015 seem uncertain at best. And yet if those who care about the country were musing over a new year’s resolution, that would be it, a dedication to this single overarching purpose. Even if Harper is soundly defeated in the next election, it will...
Because they can: Federal government rushed legislation
Good or bad? Does it really matter anymore? This is a question that weighs on the minds of many Canadians. Government legislation (bills) which would normally be put through the proper course of debate in the House of Commons has been miraculously deemed “what all Canadians want” and pushed through the system by using Time ...
Cross-border deal's grave threats to Canadian food security
The following is the third installment of a three part investigation by Nelle Maxey into the wide-ranging environmental and socio-political implications for Canada of the recently signed US-Canada cross border security deal and ancillary agreements related to the Regulatory Cooperation Commission. Read part 1 and part 2 here....
COMMENT: New Year's re-solutions?
It’s that time of year again. The re-set button moment of annual living. When some of us, or most of us, focus on creating change. At least for next week. There are times, of course, when we really do break with the way things have become. When we refuse to tolerate the way things are. […]
Globalized bigness...and why Santa Claus is no longer believable
When Santa Claus was delivering a few token Christmas gifts to a few houses in a few little villages in northern Europe, he seemed believable because his task was possible. But a globalized Santa, required to travel at searing speeds to distribute billions of gifts to billions of households, simply boggles belief. Despite the...
US-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council plans Orwellian transportation pact
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of three articles by Nelle Maxey examining the wide-ranging ramifications for the Canadian public, economy and environment of the new Canada-US Border Security Deal and its ancillary agreements. With my first article on this topic I set the background for Canada's new trade deal with the US...
OP/ED: Year in Review says Castlegar 'steady as she goes'
It’s been an odd year for The Source, in that this is the first, of our almost three years online, that no story has stood out as the real attention-getter of the 12 months past. Our first year of operation saw a conflict between Castlegar and Celgar, sparking four of the top 10 stories for […]
Resolutions revisited: making New Year's pledges that stick
I have made and broken dozens of New Year’s resolutions before swearing off them altogether – resolving not to resolve, if you will. Now, I can’t live without them – because I’m no longer an idiot about how and why I make them. For the longest time, I followed popular culture and made resolutions governing […]
OP/ED: CTF promotes net zero mandate to keep property taxes down
By: Jordan Bateman, B.C. Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation The stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve is usually a cause for celebration. This year, the bell tolls ominously for property taxpayers across British Columbia. At least two dozen Canadian Union of Public Employees’ (CUPE) contracts expire on Dec. 31, 2011, affecting thousands of […]
OP/ED: Nestle Waters takes issue with Atamanenko's bottled-water stance
I read with interest the article that appeared in the December 9, 2011, edition of The Castlegar Source entitled, “MP wants bottled water banned.” In the piece, BC South Interior MP Alex Atamanenko based his recent statement about bottled water in the House of Commons on information that has long been confirmed as false — […]